Earl Charles Spencer was born Charles Edward Maurice Spencer on May 20, 1964, to the Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, John and Frances Spencer. He had three older sisters, Sarah, Jane, and Diana, who became Princess Diana, and an older brother, John, who died within hours of his birth. His godmother is his sister Diana's former mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles spent much of his childhood in the house his parents received at their marriage from his maternal grandparents, Park House, near one of the Queen's houses. When he was still relatively young, his parents divorced very bitterly, with his maternal grandmother giving testimony against her own daughter, resulting in Earl John Spencer receiving custody of all four of his children.
Charles followed in his sister's footsteps, attending boarding schools and eventually matriculating at Oxford University, making an impression as a hell-raiser. During this time, he also gained a title, becoming Viscount Althorp after the death of his paternal grandfather, and his father becoming the Eighth Earl Spencer.
In the late 1980s, Charles met a model named Catherine Victoria Lockwood, known as Victoria. They married on August 16, 1989, but their union was far from easy, with Charles having an affair with a journalist shortly after the marriage. The two were able to reconcile, eventually having four children: Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Victoria Spencer, Lady Katya Amelia Spencer, and Louis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount Althorp.
In 1992, Charles acceded as 9th Earl Spencer after the death of his father, and all of the children became entitled to be called Lady or Viscount. Shortly after the death of their father, Princess Diana separated from King Charles III and requested the use of a cottage on the Althorp estate, which Charles denied, precipitating a split between the two siblings. Charles moved his family to South Africa, where the marriage continued to deteriorate until they finally divorced in December 1997.
Before his first divorce, the extended Spencer family and the nation suffered a terrible blow with the August 1997 death of Princess Diana. After her death, Charles returned to England to care for Althorp and spend time with his nephews, Prince William of Wales and Prince Harry. He met Caroline Hutton Freud, ex-wife of the great-grandson of Sigmund Freud, and they married on December 15, 2001. They welcomed the birth of The Honourable Edmund Charles Spencer on October 6, 2003, along with his four children and her two children.
